


Somniloquy

by Scalliwag



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Addiction, Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Developing Relationship, Drug Use, Fluff and Angst, Ghosts, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-10
Updated: 2019-03-28
Packaged: 2019-11-15 06:22:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,204
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18068234
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Scalliwag/pseuds/Scalliwag
Summary: Klaus never wakes up gently. It’s something Dave notices within the first few nights of his arrival. It's the same pattern, every night. It starts with him talking in his sleep, whispering, pleading. Sometimes Klaus will shock himself awake with a gasp. Sometimes he'll sit up so suddenly it nearly gives Dave a heart attack, his eyes wide eyes staring into the empty space in front of him, haunted by… something. At first, Dave doesn’t ask what. They’re at war, after all. Klaus is hardly the only person with his ghosts and demons.(I couldn't stop thinking about Ben telling Klaus he talks in his sleep and... well, this was the result.)





	1. Chapter 1

Klaus never wakes up gently. It’s something Dave notices within the first few nights of his arrival. Dave had been a light sleeper since he was a child, which wasn’t a great quality to have when sleeping in the jungle or when sharing a tent with a dozen other guys. Woken by a particularly loud grunt or snore, he really wasn’t sure which, Dave had taken the opportunity to go outside and take a piss. It wasn’t long after he returned to his cot that Klaus jolted awake with a gasp. His whole body jumped like waking up after dreaming about falling, his eyes wide and searching. They locked onto Dave, who tried to school his surprised expression into something a little more comforting. Klaus had offered back a half-hearted smile before curling in on himself and pretending to go back to sleep. 

The pattern repeats. Though Dave isn’t always awake before Klaus, he sees it enough to know it’s far from a one-time thing. Sometimes Dave wakes to a quiet muttering, followed by that familiar gasp. Sometimes Klaus wakes when Dave is making his way back to his cot, sitting up so suddenly it nearly gives Dave a heart-attack. Sometimes Dave simply wakes to see wide eyes staring across the two feet of empty space between their cots, haunted by… something. Dave doesn’t ask what. They’re at war, after all. Klaus is hardly the only person with his ghosts and demons. 

When their platoon is given time on leave, Klaus and Dave end up in a shabby hotel in Saigon together. They get a room with two beds, but after their first night out on the town, it becomes clear that second bed will never be used. That night, Dave wakes to a sound he had grown familiar with over the past few months; a soft and distressed muttering. 

“No no no no no no no.” 

“Klaus?” Dave puts a gentle hand on Klaus’s arm, giving him a tiny shake. Klaus’s only response is to bury his head deeper into his pillow. His next words are muffled, but not enough for Dave to miss them.

“Leave me alone. Please. Please.” 

“Klaus,” Dave shakes him again. “Klaus, it’s ok. You’re dreaming.”

A gasp. 

Eyes wide, terrified and pleading as they searched the room before landing on Dave. 

The look quickly turns to one of embarrassment. Klaus tries to sit up, brushing away Dave’s hands. He mumbles something. The only word Dave catches is, “sorry.” His hand darts out before Klaus can get far, pulling him back down on the bed. 

“Hey, it’s OK. Seriously.” He ducks his head down to try to capture Klaus’s gaze again and when he does, he tries to pour everything he can’t put into words into that look. “It’s OK. I’m here with you. You’re safe.”

Klaus doesn’t look convinced, but he doesn’t protest when Dave pulls him back down onto the bed. He wraps his arms around Klaus and places a ginger kiss on his shoulder. Their bodies press together from shoulder to toe. Dave can feel the Klaus’s labored breathing through his back and the soft shiver that shakes through his limbs. His thumb strokes slow circles against the other man’s chest and he buries his face against Klaus’s neck. 

“It’s OK,” he whispers again as Klaus lets out a shuddering breath. “I’m here with you.” 

It’s past dawn by the time Klaus manages to fall back asleep. Dave is exhausted, both physically and mentally, but no matter how hard he tries, he can’t seem to fall back asleep. Every time he comes close to drifting off, his mind pulls him back from the edge with memories of Klaus’s voice. 

No no no no no no no. 

Even half-mumbled in his sleep, the terror behind those words was as clear as day. Dave tells himself it was just a nightmare. He tells himself it’s ridiculous to try to protect someone from nightmares. That shit happens to everyone. Dave has had his own fair share of nightmares since the war started and hell, even before that. It’s just a dream. Klaus will be fine. He’s worrying for nothing. 

He still can’t sleep. 

Klaus finally manages to crawl out of bed around noon, reaching for his pack of smokes first and planting a lazy kiss on Dave’s cheek second. He seems more relaxed now, but Dave doesn’t miss the stiffness in Klaus’s shoulders or the way his smile seems to twitch into a frown every now and then before he catches himself. Dave tries to bring up what happened the night before, but Klaus waves it away, his body language punctuated by the not at all subtle “Goodbye” tattoo on his hand. 

Instead, Klaus begins to flit around the room, scooping up clothing here and there, seeming to throw things on at random. The result is an outfit that doesn’t even come close to matching and yet, somehow, looks perfect on him. 

Their day is full of sight-seeing, shopping, and some rather questionable cuisine that still manages to beat the hell out of what they serve at the army mess. Their night ends in a club almost identical to the one from the night before. Klaus is about four shots ahead of him within the first hour and he doesn’t show any signs of slowing down. At some point, Klaus disappears into the crowd. When he comes back, his movements are languid and he has a big, dopy grin plastered to his face. Clearly he’d found something a lot stronger than alcohol while he was gone. 

Dave manages to get Klaus back to the hotel room in one piece, even if he’s not quite able to keep Klaus from getting handsy on the way there. He doesn’t think anyone saw at least. When they get into their room, Klaus’s hands go immediately for Dave’s belt. 

“Not tonight,” Dave says, pulling Klaus’s hands away. Klaus just rolls his eyes and drops to his knees. 

“Bet you won’t be saying that ten seconds from now.” 

Dave has to grab him by the shoulders and haul him back to his feet. 

“I’m serious. Not tonight. You’re high.”

“Oh come on,” Klaus whines. He sounds so petulant that Dave is surprised the outburst hadn’t been accompanied Klaus stomping his foot. Dave just shakes his head. 

“Go to sleep, Klaus.”

Klaus actually does stomp his foot at that, stomping all the way to the bed before stripping down completely naked. Dave swallows hard and has to remind himself exactly why he turned Klaus down as he stares at that perfect ass. Klaus grins at him as he flops down on the bed. 

“Offer still stands, you know.”

Dave shakes his head again, kicks off his shoes, turns off the light, and crawls into bed fully dressed. He doesn’t want to give Klaus any ideas. Thankfully, after a few minutes he’s greeted by the sound of soft snores from the other side of the bed. He lifts his head to look at Klaus, expecting to see the same soft smile he had fallen asleep next to the night before. Instead, Klaus looks nearly dead, his face slack and his mouth hanging open slightly. Even with the snores as evidence that he’s breathing, Dave feels the need to press his fingers to Klaus’s pulse. It’s there, steady as ever. 

Dave snags a cigarette from Klaus’s jacket and slips outside. He supposes it’s ironic that he’s the one that needs to calm his nerves after tonight. He likes Klaus. He really likes Klaus. He may even be falling in love with the man. He’d known Klaus had a bit of a drug habit almost as long as he had known Klaus at all. He saw him smoking with the other soldiers, he caught the whiff of marijuana more than once, and Klaus could easily drink men twice his size under the table. Even so, it was different seeing him like this, eyes vacant and glassy, just a shell of himself. It hurt seeing Klaus try to escape himself and Dave wasn’t sure he could handle dealing with that on top of a whole goddamn war. 

By the time he’s done with the cigarette, Dave has made up his mind. It’s time to put an end to this. When he goes back inside, he heads to the second bed and pulls back the covers. He strips down to his underclothes and is about to lie down when he catches a movement out of the corner of his eye. Klaus is rocking side to side, ever so slightly. His brow is furrowed and his mouth is moving as he whispers something under his breath, over and over again. Dave leans in closer. 

“No no no no no no no.”

Dave’s heart breaks all over again and with it, his resolve. He abandons the second bed and crawls under the covers next to Klaus, gathering him in his arms. 

“Ben, come back. Come back. Come back.” 

Klaus buries his head deeper into Dave’s chest and the words become too muffled to hear, even though Dave can still feel Klaus’s lips moving against his chest. Dave murmurs soft reassurances into Klaus’s hair and, after a while, he sinks back into a deeper sleep. Dave wants to stay awake to make sure Klaus’s nightmares don’t come back, but after getting hardly any sleep the night before, it doesn’t take long for his body to drag him under as well. The next time he wakes it’s to a sharp gasp right in his ear. A low groan follows the gasp and then Klaus is pushing himself out of Dave’s arms and stumbling to the bathroom to throw up. 

Dave plays the dutiful boyfriend all morning, rubbing Klaus’s back as he hunches over the toilet, getting him a glass of water and a warm washcloth to wash up with after the worst of it passes. He’s still planning to tell Klaus it’s over. He just can’t seem to get the words out when Klaus looks that pathetic. At least, that’s what he tells himself. But then Klaus is smiling at him and asking what they’re going to have for breakfast and the words stick in his throat again. 

By that evening, Klaus is dragging Dave in the direction of yet another club and Dave still hasn’t found the courage to say what needs to be said. Instead, something else comes out of his mouth. 

“Who’s Ben?”

Klaus stops dead in his tracks, staring at Dave, suddenly wary. 

“How did you know—”

“You said his name last night.”

Klaus’s eyes widen into full blow alarm

“Jesus Christ! Tell me I did not scream my brother’s name while we were having sex.”

“What? No.” Klaus closes his eyes and presses a hand to his chest in visible relief. “We didn’t even have sex last night. Don’t you remember?” 

Klaus waves his other hand in the air dismissively. 

“Honestly it was all a bit of a blur.”

Dave sighs. It’s close enough to what he expected, honestly, and he’s sure now that he made the right call. He needs to end this… whatever it is between them. He just not quite ready yet. He needs some more time, so he falls back on his original question. 

“So, your brother?”

Klaus groans and waves both of his hands this time. 

“I don’t want to talk about him tonight. I want to dance.”

He swings his hips from side to side to emphasize his point, then turns to walk towards the club again. Dave doesn’t follow. 

“It’s just… You seemed really upset.” 

“Yeah, well, he’s an upsetting topic, so let’s not dwell.”

Klaus keeps walking, but Dave hangs back. 

“I haven’t spoken to my brothers for fourteen years.” Dave isn’t sure why he says it. He hasn’t talked to anyone about his family in years. He barely even thinks about them anymore. And yet, it makes Klaus turn back around and look at him, so he continues. “We were pretty close, until my dad kicked me out of the house for…” Dave trails off, looking around. There are plenty of people on the street, but he doesn’t see anyone from their unit within hearing range. Still, he drops his voice and takes a few steps closer to Klaus. “He caught me kissing the boy next door.” There’s a small twitch at the corner of Klaus’s mouth as he tries not to smile at that. “My aunt took me in for a few years after that, but I haven’t spoken to my parents or my brothers since then. I miss them. Even my dad, sometimes, no matter how much of an asshole he was.” 

Klaus laughs at that and Dave smiles. He can see he’s finally getting somewhere. 

“What about your dad? Was he an asshole too?”

“Oh you have no idea,” Klaus says. 

“Tell me.” 

Klaus hesitates for a moment and Dave suddenly remembers that night he woke to hear a terrified Klaus pleading with his dad in his sleep. He’s suddenly wary that he may have gone too far. He’s about to tell Klaus to forget about it, that they can drop the conversation and just do whatever he wants tonight, but then Klaus speaks. 

“He was a self-righteous prick,” Klaus breathes out, almost too quiet for Dave to hear. He takes a few steps closer, closing the distance between them. “That man adopted seven children. Seven. And he couldn’t even be bothered to love a single one of us. He was so focused on saving the world and he didn’t care who he fucked-up in the process.” 

Klaus takes a deep breath and blinks a few times as if to push back tears. Dave takes Klaus’s hand, not caring who sees, and gives a soft squeeze of reassurance. That buys him a small, sad smile from Klaus. 

“He sounds like a real piece of work.” Dave says. The smile on Klaus’s face turns more genuine and Dave takes it as a cue to keep pushing forward. He gives Klaus’s hand one more squeeze before letting go. “What about the rest of your family.” 

“Oh, they’re mostly like me. A lovely cacophony of trauma and neurosis, thanks to dear old dad.” They begin to walk again, headed towards nowhere in particular. 

“So you’re not close with them then?” 

“No. Just Ben. Of course, I haven’t spoken to him in months, so…”

“Tell me about him.”

“He’s… He was really quiet when we were kids. He had this… condition, and it freaked him out. He used to sneak into my room at night to sleep there. I don’t know if it was scared and knew I’d understand or if he thought he was there to protect me. We were all so wrapped up in our own lives, except for Ben. He’s been standing by me almost my whole life. Literally for a while…” 

“He sounds like a good brother.” 

“Yeah. He looked out for me more than anyone else. Even before he died, he was always on my case about staying sober.” 

Klaus’s phrasing is odd and it takes Dave a moment to realize what he has said. 

“I’m sorry. I didn’t realize he passed away.” 

“It’s fine. It happened a long time ago. I’ve had thirteen years to adjust.”

Dave glances at Klaus, but the other man seems to be lost in his own thoughts. How could Ben have died thirteen years ago if Klaus said that he hadn’t talked to him in months? He wonders if Klaus is making the whole thing up, but another glance at his face convinces Dave that he’s telling the truth. No one would look that torn up about a story they’d just invented. He must have heard wrong before. 

They stop at a small market to buy a couple bottles of liquor, but they never do make it back to a club that night. Instead, they wander the streets of Saigon, getting themselves thoroughly lost until Klaus finally stops an elderly man to attempt to get directions in broken Vietnamese. They get lost a few more times, but the directions are good enough to get them going in the onto the right street and they eventually make it back to their hotel. As they walk, Dave Klaus’s about his family, about his life before Vietnam. Klaus responds with a mixture of brutally honest and strangely enigmatic answers that leave Dave feeling like he knows Klaus better than ever, but also with more questions than ever before. Whenever he tries to ask those questions, however, Klaus changes the subject back to Dave. It’s frustrating, but not in entirely bad way. They’ve only known each other a few months, after all. Klaus should be able to keep some secrets. Lord knows Dave has his. 

By the time they get back to their room, Dave is glad he didn’t call it quits. Klaus has had a difficult life and he supposes he can understand the need to numb some of that away. Dave just hopes he can get through to Klaus that he doesn’t have to be numb with him.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dave and Klaus return to camp. Klaus's dreams continue.

When their leave ends, Dave can’t believe how much he misses holding Klaus while they sleep. It’s torture waking up to hear Klaus crying out, to see him gasping for breath as he wakes and not be able to just reach out and touch him. Klaus takes to leaving the barracks to sneak a smoke or a few drinks of whiskey after he wakes from those dreams. Dave always follows him out into the dark night, rubbing the back of his neck, squeezing his hand, or sometimes even holding him in his arms if they’ve gone far enough away from the encampment not to be spotted. A few times, Klaus produces pill bottles instead of the smokes or liquor. 

The first time this happens, Klaus just glares at Dave as if expecting him to say something. Instead, Dave calmly takes the bottle from his hands, shakes out a single pill, and hands it to him. Klaus scoffs at the action, but he doesn’t offer any other protest. He simply takes the pill, swallowing it dry. Dave lights a cigarette and the two sit across from each other, passing the smoke back and forth in silence. Dave waits until he sees the slump in Klaus’s shoulders and the slightly vacant expression in his eyes before helping Klaus to his feet and carefully guiding him back to their tent. 

As they near the entrance, Klaus pauses, pulling Dave to a stop as well. He gives Dave’s hand another tug to pull him closer and rests his head on Dave’s shoulder, nuzzling into his neck. He presses a kiss to a spot just above Dave’s collarbone and whispers, “Thank you,” before slipping away. It’s the only words they’ve shared that night and it takes Dave a moment to regain his composure before he can slip back into the tent. Klaus is already asleep on his cot, his face relaxed in a rare moment of peace. There doesn’t seem to be anyone else awake, so Dave takes the risk, kneeling down next to Klaus’s cot to brush the hair back from his forehead and return the kiss. The edge of Klaus’s mouth lifts ever so slightly, though he doesn’t appear to have woken up. Dave gives his hair one last stroke, then returns to his cot. 

Life continues much the same as it did before, and yet it feels entirely different. There’s something more behind the fond glances between them and the little touches that they risk in front of the others. Dave thinks their brothers in arms are either the most unobservant people he’s ever met for not noticing, or maybe they’ve just decided there’s more important shit to worry about in a war zone. There’s no small risk behind what they’re doing. The flirting and stolen kisses alone could land them a dishonorable discharge, let alone sneaking off for a quick hand-job or more when the opportunity presents itself. There’s a bit of a thrill in the risk. Dave knows Klaus feels it too, that he gets off on it. It’s dangerous. It’s a strange sort of danger to worry about, particularly when they’ve got people shooting at them on a nearly daily basis. Someone has to worry, though, and Dave knows it won’t be Klaus. He has enough on his plate to worry about. 

As the fighting continues, Klaus’s nightmares get worse and worse. One night, Dave even finds him huddled beneath his cot, hands pressed over his ears, whispering to himself. Worst of all, he’s clearly awake. By the time Dave wakes up, there’s already several other soldiers staring. 

“He’s fine,” Dave says, waving the others away. “He just needs some air. He’ll be good as new. I got this.” Dave kneels down and takes Klaus’s wrists, trying to pull them away from his ears, but his limbs are like cement, refusing to budge. If they were back at that hotel, Dave would take Klaus into his arms and whisper calming things to him until he relaxed. He’d carry Klaus back to bed and pepper his face with kisses and beg him to open his eyes. He’d tell Klaus that he was here with him and he would never leave his side.   
He can’t do any of that here. There are too many eyes watching already. Instead, he pinches Klaus. Hard. Klaus yelps in surprise and his eyes snap open. He’s still shaking, eyes darting around the room, seeming to fixate on a dozen different things. He’s still freaking out. That much is clear, but at least Dave has some of his attention. 

“Come on, man,” He says, hauling Klaus to his feet and attempting to sound casual. Just soldier helping his brother out. “Let’s get you some air.” 

Klaus climbs to his feet stiffly. His movements are jerky, and Dave keeps a hand on his back to make sure he doesn’t fall. Thankfully, no one follows them. Even so, Dave doesn’t stop walking until they’re a decent way away from the barracks. By that time, Klaus seems to be more lucid. His body is still stiff, but he’s walking entirely on his own. Dave stops and pulls out a cigarette. He grabbed Klaus’s coat with his pills too, but he doesn’t want to pull those out unless he has to, especially since Klaus seems to be reacting like he’s already on a bad trip. He’s pacing now, arms pressed against his face, palms flashing the words “Hello” and “Goodbye” as he repeatedly squeezes and relaxes his fists. He’s still muttering to himself. 

“Shut up. Shut up. Shut up.”

Dave lights the cigarette, taking a quick puff before setting it down and going to Klaus. 

“Klaus, stop. Hey.” He grabs Klaus’s shoulders, forcing him to stop pacing, and gives a little shake. “Klaus. Come on, sweetheart, look at me.” Klaus finally drops his hands long enough to open his eyes. They fix on Dave’s face for a second before flitting to the left, and then he’s squeezing his eyes shut again, tears leaking from the corners, and Dave doesn’t know what to do, so he does the only thing he can think of. He hugs Klaus to his chest. Klaus responds immediately, wrapping his arms around Dave’s middle and grabbing fistfuls of his shirt. He’s squeezing Dave so tightly, it kind of hurts. Not that Dave has any plans whatsoever to tell him to stop. 

“Hey, come on. It’s OK. It’s OK.” Dave whispers this over and over into Klaus’s hair, rubbing the back of his neck and holding onto him like his life depends on it. 

Eventually, Klaus’s grip weakens. He pushes himself back from Dave’s grip and his hand goes to his pocket. Dave knows what he’s looking for, so he scoops Klaus’s jacket off the ground and pulls his pill bottle out. He dumps one pill into his palm and offers it to Klaus. Klaus ignores the pill and reaches for the bottle instead. 

“Hey, just start with one, OK?”

“Fuck you, Dave.” 

Dave is so shocked by the venom in Klaus’s voice that he doesn’t have enough time to react when Klaus grabs the bottle from his hand. He dumps a handful of pills out. Dave doesn’t know much about drugs, or even what exactly Klaus is taking, but there is no way that can be safe. He reacts before he even thinks, knocking Klaus’s hand away before it can reach his mouth. The pills scatter into the dirt. Klaus takes two seconds to be shocked before he shoves Dave. He stumbles back with the force of it, but manages to catch himself before he falls. 

Meanwhile, Klaus dumps the remaining three pills from the bottle into his hand and pops them all into his mouth at once. He spots the lit cigarette and picks it up, taking a long drag before exhaling slowly. Dave watches him at a distance. Klaus has never been this aggressive with him before. He’s not exactly sure what to do, but he also doesn’t want to just leave him like this. So instead, he just stays put, several feet away, watching. Klaus, for his part, seems to have completely forgotten Dave’s there. He’s muttering to himself again and this time Dave isn’t close enough to catch the words. 

Slowly, Klaus’s limbs relax. He sinks down onto the ground and Dave finally steps forward, catching Klaus before he manages to lay down completely. They’re in a jungle, for Christ sake. You can’t just go to sleep on the forest floor with snakes and spiders and God knows what else. He drags Klaus to his feet, and half carries him back to a jeep at the edge of the camp. He hauls Klaus into the back-seat, then slides in after him. Klaus has his eyes closed again, nodding his head to the beat of some song only he can hear. Dave lets Klaus ride out his high for a few hours before dragging him back to the tent and tucking him in to bed. The next morning, he stays by Klaus’s side as he vomits up everything in his stomach. 

He doesn’t say anything to Klaus. He hasn’t said anything since the night before. He doesn’t know what to say to make things better, so he just does what he can in silence. Klaus finally calls him on it later that afternoon. 

“OK, enough with the silent treatment already,” Klaus says, leaning up against the jeep that Dave is currently trying to fix. He’d worked at an auto-shop back in the States before shipping out, so even though it’s not technically part of his duties, he offers to help whenever the vehicles need work. He’d been glad of the distraction today, thinking it would give him some time to think without Klaus there. Apparently, he had been wrong. “I get that you’re still mad about last night and I’m sorry, OK?”

Dave sighs and wipes his hands on the rag sticking out of his pocket. 

“I’m not mad at you Klaus. I’m just worried.”

Klaus studies Dave for a moment, his face twisted in confusion, as if someone worrying about him is a completely foreign concept. 

“You scared me, OK? You do scare me. Constantly. I like you and I’m terrified that one day you’re going to take things too far and end up dead.”

Klaus’s eyes shift to the left and he fidgets a bit. Dave wonders if Klaus has almost killed himself with this shit before and it just scares him all the more. 

“You’ve got to stop this, Klaus.”

Klaus shakes his head, still not meeting Dave’s eyes.

“Can’t stop it now. We’re at war, babe. No time to be dope-sick.”

“You don’t have to stay, though.”

“Hmmm, and here I thought desertion was frowned upon in the military.”

“I don’t mean that. I mean… ” Dave hesitates. He knows what he’s about to ask is crazy. It could ruin Klaus’s chances for the rest of his life, but then, so could dying. “Let someone find out that you like men. Or that you’re stealing from the infirmary, that you’re high 24/7. Let them find out and they’ll discharge you.” Dave rushes on before Klaus can argue, “I know what a dishonorable discharge means back home, but I’ll look out for you. I’ll mail money back for you, and when this war finally ends, I’ll be there to take care of you. We can—”

“Dave, they already know all that about me. You really think no one notices when we sneak off together? Or when entire bottles of drugs go missing? People notice. They see. And no one says shit. They don’t have near enough bodies to bury in this goddamn jungle and I’m sure as hell not leaving you behind to become one of them. I’m staying by your side. No matter what.”

“And what happens if you accidentally kill yourself instead.”

Klaus swallows hard, but he doesn’t break eye-contact. 

“I won’t. I won’t be like that again. I… I need something to take the edge off every now and then, but I won’t be like that again. I promise.”

Dave knows better than to trust a promise like that. Klaus isn't the first soldier to self-medicate and he certainly wouldn't be the first to take things too far. Even back home things weren't that simple. He had a father and two uncles that shared an addiction to alcohol. They made a lot of promises too. Eventually, they always broke them. Dave can’t be with someone he knows will let him down, and yet… he knows Klaus is right. He can’t go through withdrawal here and the odds of him getting sent back to the States are about as good as him being sent right back to the front line. He’s a good soldier, even despite the drugs. The worst part is that, deep down, Dave just doesn’t want to be without Klaus. Maybe that’s why he finds himself nodding in acceptance. Klaus breathes out a sigh of relief, but Dave isn’t done yet. He reaches out to cup Klaus’s cheek, turning his face back to look at him. 

“When we get back, though, you have to promise me that you’ll get clean. Promise me now, or we’re done.”

Klaus hesitates, but only for a second. 

“I promise.”

Dave searches Klaus’s eyes for any hint that he’s not serious. Finally satisfied, he lets go of Klaus’s face. There’s an oil mark where his hand was, fingerprints clearly visible. Dave glances around to make sure there’s no one around, even though it’s a bit late for that. He pulls a mostly clean handkerchief out of his pocket and tosses it to Klaus. 

“You should clean that off,” he says, motioning to Klaus’s cheek, “Before someone notices.”

Klaus just grins and leans forward, tucking the handkerchief back into Dave’s pocket. 

“Make me.” He wiggles his eyebrows suggestively and then, before Dave can think of a decent response, Klaus darts in to press a lightening quick kiss to his lips. By the time he’s recovered from the shockingly sudden change of pace, Klaus is already walking away, head held high, Dave’s black fingerprints on clear display for anyone to see. Dave tries to tell himself that no one will know the prints are from him. He’s not sure why he feels just a little bit disappointed about that. 

Klaus behaves after that. Or at least, he behaves as much as can be expected and only when it comes to drugs. He’s still as loud and insubordinate as ever, but it somehow manages to come off in an amusing enough manner that he doesn’t get in too much trouble for it. He still drags Dave into corners and behind trees for everything from a quick kiss to a not so quick blow-job. He still flaunts his unconventional self in every way possible. He still behaves like the outrageous person that Dave fell in love with, but when it comes to the drugs, he manages to keep his promise and change. He does swipe another bottle of pills from the infirmary, but when Dave follows him out of the barracks in the middle of the night, Klaus hands Dave the bottle with zero prompting and waits for Dave to give him back a single pill, hands twisting and fidgeting at his sides the whole time. 

They fall into a routine that is, like everything else about Klaus, incredibly unconventional. But it works. For a while, at least.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun story: This chapter started as a single paragraph and that was all it was ever planned to be. But then I though, "OK, a few more details might be good. Maybe one more paragraph, or... well, maybe a couple more. Well, maybe..." 
> 
> Anyway, that's the story of how this fic became three chapters instead of one. The final chapter should be coming soon, so stay tuned.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dave knows Klaus has a lot of secrets, but he never would have expected this to be one of them.

The next time they go on leave, Klaus doesn’t even wait for the sun to go down before he’s at the club again. Dave knows he should be worried. Klaus promised not to take things too far and he wants to believe him, but experience is a harsh teacher. Still, it’s been difficult to see Klaus on the edge of his sanity for the past couple of weeks. At least now he looks happy again. More than that, he looks at peace. Later, when Klaus offers his lit joint, Dave only hesitates for a moment before taking a hit. It’s not the highest quality grass Dave has ever had, but it doesn’t take long for it to kick in. 

By the time they stumble home at one in the morning, the peak of the high is starting to wear off, but Dave still feels warm and happy. Of course, that could just be from having Klaus in his arms again. The last time they were at this hotel, there was a sense of urgency that flowed through every encounter, an insatiable drive to chase their release in the other’s arms. 

Tonight, Dave takes his time. He worships every inch of Klaus’s body. Time seems to stop as he traces his mouth over Klaus’s skin, drinking in the sighs and moans pouring out of his mouth. Dave has been with other men before. He’s even had a few relatively serious relationships. He knows what it’s like to want someone so bad you can’t even think straight. And yet none of that has prepared him for Klaus. He has never lost himself in another person so completely that when they’re apart it feels like he’s missing a piece of himself. And when they’re together, even a simple touch sets him on fire, makes him feel whole. He could spend the entire night just touching Klaus and never tire of it. 

Dave works his way back to Klaus’s mouth, cutting off his sighs with a kiss and dropping a hand down to work between their bodies. Klaus moans, breaking the kiss, and Dave simply moves his mouth to nip at Klaus’s jaw, his lips scraping through several days worth of stubble, working across his cheek until he tastes something salty. His hand stills between them and he pulls back to look at Klaus’s face. Tears are dripping down his cheeks. Dave abandons what he had been doing immediately, taking Klaus’s face in both hands. 

“No,” Klaus whines, finally blinking open his eyes to look at Dave. “Why did you stop.”

“You’re crying,” Dave says, brushing a tear away with his thumb. “Am I hurting you?” 

Klaus shakes his head and, if anything, the tears start to flow even harder. 

“No, that’s not… That’s not it. It’s just… overwhelming.” 

Klaus offers a watery smile and Dave returns it hesitantly.

“Good overwhelming or bad overwhelming?”

“Good. Really good. So good. I just… I’ve just never felt like this during sex.”

“Felt like what?”

“Like I’m in love.”

Klaus is looking at Dave like he never has before, completely open and vulnerable, eyes still wet and shining. The simple honestly in that statement isn’t something Dave is prepared for, and his chest aches with longing. 

“I love you too.” He stares down at Klaus, completely consumed by the moment, unable to tear his eyes away. Klaus takes one of Dave’s hands pulls it back down between their bodies. Dave picks up where they left off, but his eyes stay fixed firmly on Klaus’s face, on the face of the man he loves. 

 

..........

 

When Dave wakes, Klaus is gone from their bed. He can hear the shower running in their dingy hotel bathroom and when he goes to investigate, Klaus is there, sitting on the floor of the tub, his knees drawn up to his chest, head bent forward, hands clasped firmly against his ears. Dave reaches out to put a hand on his shoulder, only to find that the water has gone completely cold and probably has been for a while if Klaus’s icy skin is any indication. 

Klaus sucks in a breath at the touch, flinching away. 

“Christ on a cracker,” he breaths, turning his face away from Dave and rubbing at his eyes in a way that makes Dave suspect the water on his face isn’t just from the shower. “Can’t a guy get a second to himself?” 

Dave reaches over to turn off the water, but he doesn’t leave. Instead, he slides onto the floor next to the tub. His hand goes automatically to Klaus’s knee. The fact that Klaus doesn’t push Dave away reassures him that the earlier out-burst hadn’t been personal. 

“More nightmares?” Dave asks. 

Klaus laughs at that. 

“Hard to tell when life’s the fucking nightmare.”

Dave tries not to take that personally. He knows how Klaus feels about him. He also knows that Klaus is getting shot at and having bombs dropped in his general vicinity on a regular basis, all while dealing with a boatload of trauma from his past. Dave knows the feeling, and Klaus is right. It’s a bit of a nightmare, despite the company. 

“You know you can talk to me, right?”

“Like you would understand.”

Dave frowns. 

“Hey.” He slaps at Klaus’s cheek lightly. Not enough to hurt, just to snap him out of whatever funk he’s fallen into. Klaus fixes him with an affronted look. Good. He needs his attention. 

“Klaus, I get that you’ve been through some messed up shit, ok? But you’re not the only one. My old man used to kick the shit out of me even before he found out I was queer. I finally made it out of that house and I end up here, where I got to see my best friend killed in the first week. No matter what you tell me, I can handle it.”

Klaus’s gaze drifts past Dave to something over his shoulder. 

“Fuck, is that why you won’t shut up?”

“Excuse me?”

Klaus finally stands up, pushing past Dave to go for the pack of smokes lying on the vanity. 

“He misses you. You miss him. Move the fuck on already.” Klaus says, his voice is muffled slightly from the cigarette. Dave isn’t really sure how to respond to what he’s saying. Klaus has never been this cold with him. It’s the last reaction he would have expected, especially after last night. There’s something off. For one thing, Klaus still isn’t looking at him. Instead, he seems to be talking to the empty air over the toilet. 

“You couldn’t just ask me like a normal fucking human being?” Klaus asks, waving his hand with the lighter through the air. He takes a long drag on the cigarette and glares at the corner. Then he laughs, shaking his head. He turns and catches sight of Dave, freezing as if he’s just remembered there’s someone else in the room. He glances back at the corner. “Fine. Have it your way.” He takes another slow drag on his cigarette, exhaling slowly, before he looks at Dave again. “It’s not your fault.”

“What?”

“James. He says it wasn’t your fault. You had to go. It would have been stupid to try to take him with you. He wants you to stop blaming yourself for it.”

Dave’s heart nearly stops. 

“How did you know about…?”

Klaus doesn’t answer. Dave is on his feet in an instant, arms gripping Klaus’s biceps. 

“What the hell are you playing at? Is this some kind of joke? Who the hell put you up to this?” 

Dave can see the shift behind Klaus’s eyes, walls being thrown up, defenses kicking in.

“James told me.” Dave searches Klaus’s face for the lie, for a sign that this is all some kind of horrible prank someone is pulling on him, but Klaus’s face is completely blank.   
“You wanted to know what was wrong with me. This is it. I talk to ghosts. They find me and they shout and yell and never fucking shut up.” Klaus’s eyes flicker to the side again. “You’d think missing half his jaw would slow this one down.” He looks back at Dave and his face falls immediately. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean… I just…”

Dave drops Klaus’s arms and before he knows it, he’s stumbling out of the bathroom. He grabs his pants, pulling them on quickly. He doesn’t bother with his shirt or shoes. He needs to get out of here now. As the door closes behind him, he hears Klaus mutter into the empty hotel room, “Fuck off. You’re the asshole.” The door snaps shut behind him, and then he’s walking, stumbling, then running. He doesn’t have a destination in mind, other than “not here.” 

James. James was there. He was there and Klaus could see him. There was no other explanation. Klaus could have heard James’s name from one of the other soldiers, but none of them had been there when that bullet had ripped through James’s cheek, or when the second one hit him right in the chest. No one had stopped to take a second look as they retreated. Even the soldier who had pulled Dave away from his friend’s body had taken a bullet in the back only a minute later. No one else had seen James get hit. No one else had seen him die. And Dave left him there on the field. He left and he ran and the body had never been recovered. Dave didn’t know if someone had found him and given him a proper burial or if his body was still out there, rotting in the jungle heat. No one could have known those details. 

But Klaus did. 

Klaus could see James. 

No, not just James. Klaus could see all of them. He could see them all the time. 

The thought stops Dave in his tracks. He remembers the first time they slept together, Klaus whispering in his sleep. “Leave me alone.” He remembers Klaus startling himself awake almost every night. He remembers the way Klaus would start to close in on himself, flinching at nothing, before reaching for a joint or a pill or a bottle. He remembers that Klaus said he hadn’t spoken to his dead brother in months rather than in years. He remembers how Klaus had been tonight, sitting in the shower, hands pressed over his ears, letting the water run cold without even noticing. 

This was messed up. It wasn’t real. This kind of stuff happened in stories and comic books, not in real life. Ghosts weren’t real. They weren’t. And yet… Klaus knew. Dave’s mind spins through all the ways this could be a lie, all the ways he could have been tricked. The one thing he finally settles on is the memory of Klaus’s face as he told Dave that he loved him. Klaus had bared his soul to Dave in that moment, no lies or deception, nothing hidden. No, Klaus wouldn’t lie to him. He wouldn’t make this up. He was telling the truth. 

Dave doesn’t know if that makes it better or worse. It certainly explains so much of what makes Klaus tick, but this isn’t something Dave can fix. This isn’t something Klaus will forget about when he leaves the battle field. The memories and the nightmares aren’t going to fade because they’re always with him. No wonder he feels like he has to be numb all the time. Dave told Klaus that he could handle whatever Klaus had to tell him, but maybe… maybe he was wrong. Maybe this was too much. Maybe… 

No. 

Maybe Dave could have called it quits at one point. Maybe he could have left Klaus in the beginning, before they fell in love, before Klaus became a piece of him. Or maybe not. Maybe he was lost from the moment he laid eyes on Klaus. One thing’s for sure, he’s not leaving him now. No matter how messed up things are or how messed up they get, leaving is unthinkable. 

By the time Dave makes it back to their hotel, Klaus is fully dressed. He’s sitting on the second bed, his briefcase in front of him. Dave had always wondered about that luggage. It was such a strange thing to bring to war and he had never seen Klaus open it or seen what was inside. Now, Klaus is staring at it like it holds all the answers to the universe. Or at least, he was staring at it until Dave walked in. Now, Klaus is looking at Dave, confusion and hope written all over his face. And doubt. Lots of doubt. Dave can’t stand to see that doubt for a second longer. He doesn’t stop to think about the ghosts or the drugs or the war or anything else in this messed up world. Instead, he marches up to the bed, takes Klaus’s face in his hands, and kisses him like it’s his last moment on Earth. When they part, Klaus looks dazed. 

“What…?”

“I’m sorry Klaus.”

“No,” Klaus says. He shakes his head, but he doesn’t move away. Instead, his hands slide over Dave’s, holding them in place. He rubs his cheek against Dave’s palm, nuzzling into the touch, his beard rough against Dave’s skin. “No, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said what I did. I wasn’t thinking straight. I shouldn’t have dumped all of that on you.”

Dave nudges the briefcase out of his way and sits down in front of Klaus, still cupping his face in his hands. “I asked you to dump all that on me. All that and everything else in your life. I wanted to know a I thought… I thought I was prepared for it, but…” Klaus squeezes his eyes shut and swallows thickly. He tries to pull his face away from Dave’s hands and Dave chases after him, sliding his hands to the back of Klaus’s head instead, tangling his fingers in the hair at the base of his neck and physically turning Klaus to face him again. 

“Klaus, no. I’m not… I’m not saying… Jesus Christ, I’m no good at this.” Klaus’s eyes are still closed and he wants to see them. He needs to see them. “Klaus, sweetheart, please look at me.” Finally, Klaus’s eyes open. They’re wet with unshed tears. 

“Klaus, you are so… just so much more than anyone else I’ve ever met. I haven’t been prepared for anything about you, but I love you. You hear me? I love you. I may not know everything about you, but I know you. I know who you are, and I love you, OK?” Klaus’s tears are falling freely now, but Dave continues. He needs to make Klaus understand. “I know I left tonight, but I’m not doing that again. Not ever. I’m staying right here with you, OK? I don’t care how crazy things get. I don’t care how hard things get. I’m not leaving you. Never.”

Klaus smiles and Dave can’t quite tell if it’s a sad smile or a happy smile. Maybe it’s a bit of both. 

“Never is a pretty big promise,” Klaus says. 

“Yeah, but it’s a promise I can keep when it comes to you. Literally. I mean, from what you told me tonight, even if I die here, I’ll still get to see you.” Dave says it as a joke, but he can tell almost as soon as the words are out of his mouth that it was the worst possible thing he could have said in this moment. Klaus’s smile drops immediately and he leans back, pulling away from Dave completely. 

“Don’t. Don’t say that. Don’t." Klaus is on his feet in a second, one hand waving and twisting at his side, the other gripping his hair. "I can’t see you like that, bloody and torn up. It was bad enough with Ben. I can’t with you. I can’t—” Dave jumps to his feet and pulls Klaus into his arms. 

“Shhh. It’s OK. Forget it. It was a dumb thing to say. Me and my big mouth over here.” Klaus buries his face in Dave’s neck. His breathing is still uneven, though. Dave rubs his back and tries to think of something less stupid to say, something calming and good. “You don’t have to think about that, Klaus, ‘cause we’re both getting out of here. Then we’ll go home, get ourselves a place together, maybe get a cat or something. I don’t know. Then we’ll have all the time in the world, yeah?”

“Yeah,” Klaus mumbles from where his mouth is still pressed firmly against Dave’s skin. “Yeah, that sounds nice.” 

Dave presses a kiss to the top of Klaus's head. This isn't going to be easy. As much as he wants a nice, normal life, he'll never have that with Klaus. He knows it. Then again, Dave has always known that would be the deal with loving men. He accepted that fact a long time ago. Normal would be nice, but it isn't important. The man he loved is important. Klaus is important. No, he's more than that. Klaus is everything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OK, I know I said this fic was only going to be two chapters... then maybe three.... then OK, yes, three chapters, but that's it! Yeah, it's actually going to be four chapters. But for real this time! I've written the ending already. I know how and when this story ends and JUST 4 chapters. That last chapter should be posted in a couple days as well, so not too much longer to wait.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> All good things must come to an end. Well, normally that's how it goes...

Klaus is calling his name, but it sounds so far away. There’s an awful pain in Dave’s chest, but even that is beginning to feel distant, foggy. There are more words now, words almost as familiar from Klaus’s lips as his name. No no no no no no no. A nightmare. That’s it. That’s what this is. That’s what it has to be. Just a nightmare. Close your eyes and wake up. No. The opposite. Open your eyes. Did he ever close them? He can’t remember. The fog is invading his thoughts now, slowing things down. No. He needs to do the opposite. Speed things up. Get moving. Get up. Go to Klaus. Stop the nightmare. Stop… everything. Stop. 

Stop. 

 

When Dave regains consciousness, Klaus is gone. Everyone is gone. No, not everyone. There are figures around him, figures ripped apart and bleeding, moaning, dying. No. Not dying, Dave realizes, looking down at the bloody mess on his own chest. 

Dead. 

Thankfully, Klaus isn’t one of them. He’s not here, which means he has to be alive. Dave knows he shouldn’t look for Klaus. He knows he should just let the man be, but he has to be sure that Klaus is safe. He manages to find their platoon. 

He doesn’t find Klaus. 

The soldiers talk about Klaus, though. He always did have a big presence. Even when he wasn’t there anymore. The same story is swirling all over the camp. Klaus deserted. The same night as the battle, he had taken his briefcase and left. No one saw him again. Dave tries to look for him in Saigon and a dozen other villages. There’s no way Klaus could have flown back to the States in this short of time, so he has to be here somewhere, unless… Unless he didn’t make it out of the country. Unless he ran into an enemy soldier. Unless he broke his promise to Dave and took the drugs too far. Unless… no. Dave can’t think like that. Klaus has to be alive. 

It’s nearly a full month before Dave even thinks to ask a ghost for help. He sees a man from their platoon. He had died a few months before Dave and he found Klaus to ask him to look in on his daughter. She had only just been born when the man died. Dave asks him about Klaus, but he doesn’t have any answers. At least, no answers that make sense. 

Is Klaus dead? 

No. 

Where is he? 

Gone. 

Just… gone. 

It’s the same answer every ghost gives him. Somehow, they all seem to know who Klaus is and they are all very certain that he did not die. They are also certain he’s gone. Dave thinks about all the secrets Klaus shared with him. He wonders if there’s one secret he may have kept to himself. 

When Dave finally stops looking for Klaus, he’s left feeling lost. Of course, he’s not exactly alone in that feeling. Hundreds of spirits walk the earth. There are so many dead. All lost. All trudging through the world, the slow, endless march of the forgotten. Dave marches with them and time ceases to mean anything. 

Decades go by. Nothing changes. Then, one day, Dave hears his name. The voice is familiar. Klaus. Dave follows the voice like a thread, crossing the world in a matter of seconds, until he’s standing by a familiar sight. Klaus is standing there, wearing the same army green vest that he had decades ago. The rest of his outfit is strange, definitely not military issue, but he doesn’t look a day older than the last time Dave had seen him. How could that be? 

Klaus’s hands shake as they rest against a picture frame, and he says Dave’s name again. Dave looks at the picture, taken decades ago when he and Klaus were whole. He looks down at his chest, still seeping blood after all these years. 

Suddenly the memories crash over him like waves, held at bay for so many years and now jumbling together. 

Klaus pacing the hotel room. 

“I can’t see you like that, bloody and torn up.”

A hand pressing to Dave’s chest. 

“No no no no no no no.” 

Klaus in his arms, shaking. 

Staring up at panicked eyes. 

“I need a medic!”

A gasp in the night. 

Hands pressed over his ears. 

“Dave.”

Klaus’s voice pulls Dave back from the memories, just in time to see him press a kiss to their unit’s badge. 

Dave can’t see Klaus like this. He can’t be another nightmare to add to Klaus’s collection. As much as he wants to see Klaus again, to be seen by him, he knows this can’t happen. Dave won’t do this to him. 

He steps back into the fog. 

Klaus’s voice still comes to him, calling his name from time to time. Some days it’s clear as a bell, ringing in his ears, compelling him to follow it to the source, but he resists. Some days it’s softer, a whisper passing over him and making him shiver. He ignores that too. Then one day, he hears his name spoken by someone else. 

“Are you Dave?”

Dave blinks at the man in front of him. He’s wearing a leather jacket and his black hair is slicked back, not a strand out of place. It takes Dave a moment to realize that he’s being asked a question. It’s been so long. Ghosts aren’t big talkers. At least, not to each other. He nods his head. 

“Well then what the hell is your problem?”

“Excuse me?”

“There is no way you haven’t heard my brother calling you. I followed his voice all the way here. I know you can hear it.”

Dave’s thoughts are sluggish. It’s been a while since he’s thought about anything but resisting that call. Something the man says sparks a memory though. Brother. Dead. 

“Ben?”

No, this doesn’t make any sense. Klaus had said… 

“Klaus said you died bloody and torn apart.”

“Yeah,” Ben says, crouching down next to Dave. “I got ripped apart from the inside by interdimensional monsters. Took me weeks to put enough of the pieces back together to even communicate with Klaus. What’s your excuse? All you had was a gunshot.”

Ben pokes at Dave’s chest to punctuate his point. Dave flinches back, still expecting the touch to hurt, despite all the years feeling absolutely nothing. 

“I don’t want him to see me like this,” Dave says, looking down at the wound. “He shouldn’t have to re-live that memory.”

“Hate to break it to you, but he already does live with that memory. It’s Klaus. If he’s not high off his ass, he’s dwelling on shit that makes him miserable.”

“Exactly! If I’m there, looking like this, he’s going to dwell. It’s better that he just moves on.”

Ben is looking at Dave with a mixture of pity and frustration, but Dave has made up his mind. He gets to his feet, determined to put as much distance as he can between himself and Ben. 

“You really don’t know what you mean to him, do you?”

Dave freezes. 

“I’ve seen my brother hook up with dozens of people. I’ve seen him move on and never think about them again. I know for a fact that he doesn’t even remember a decent chunk of them. But you he remembers. He thinks about you every day. Even if he doesn’t talk about you during the day, he dreams about you every night. You know he –”

“Talks in his sleep,” Dave says before Ben can finish. “Yeah. I remember.”

They’re both silent for a moment. Then Ben sighs. 

“Look, if you’re worried about the death wounds thing, I can show you how to fix that, but only if you promise to stop being such an idiot and just go see him already.”  
Dave doesn’t trust himself to talk, so he just nods instead. Ben finally offers him a smile in response. It’s small and more annoyed than fond, but it’s a smile nonetheless. 

“OK then. Let’s get to work.”

It takes weeks for Dave to learn how to make himself whole again. Ben is a pretty good teacher, but he keeps getting pulled away. Dave assumes it’s Klaus calling him, and he tries to continue on his own whenever Ben’s gone. When he finally manages it, Ben beams at him with pride. 

“Next time he calls you, you better answer.”

Dave agrees, but it’s still a couple more days before he hears Klaus’s voice again. It’s soft this time, but it’s enough. Dave follows the sound until he’s standing at Klaus’s bedside. Klaus is asleep, one arm dangling off the edge of his bed. His mouth opens ever so slightly and he whispers, “Dave…” The corners of Klaus’s eyes are wet. 

Dave crouches down next to the bed. His hand reaches out to brush a few strands of hair back from Klaus’s face, but it passes through his skin. Right. Ghost. Instead, Dave leans in and whispers Klaus’s name. 

“Klaus, sweetheart, I’m here.”

Klaus doesn’t wake up. He just burrows deeper into the covers. His next words are muffled, but Dave is able to make out enough. 

“Said you wouldn’t leave.”

“I know,” Dave says, his heart breaking. “I know, and I’m sorry. But I’m here now. Klaus, I’m here and I just need you to wake up.”

Klaus rolls over, his back to Dave now. He doesn’t say anything else. His breathing is slow and even with sleep. Dave sighs. Leave it to Klaus not to listen to orders. Dave tries to keep himself occupied while Klaus sleeps, reading the scrawled words on the walls. There’s everything from poems and famous quotes to a hastily scrawled “fuck this house.” Some of the writing is clearly Klaus’s, but Dave spots writing from at least six other people mixed in. He’s examining one particularly bawdy limerick, clearly written by Klaus, when he hears movement from the bed. 

He turns in time to see Klaus sit up. He rubs the back of his hands against his eyes and Dave can see the familiar HELLO GOODBYE tattoos. When Klaus finally drops his hands, Dave is standing right in front of him. He still feels guilty for ignoring Klaus’s calls for so long, but in this single moment, looking at the shocked expression on Klaus’s face, he can’t help the broad smile that spreads across his face. 

“Dave?”

“Sorry I kept you waiting for so long.”

Klaus continues to stare and Dave stares right back. Klaus is just as beautiful as he remembered. More so now. God, Klaus is almost glowing. 

Wait… No, he’s definitely glowing. 

Dave is about to ask about it, but suddenly Klaus is on his feet, hands pressing to the sides of Dave’s face, and they feel solid. Dave feels solid. He has only a second to marvel at this feeling, and then Klaus is kissing him and nothing else matters in the world. 

This isn’t the life Dave imagined for himself. It definitely isn’t the death he imagined. But to be honest, he could have said that from the moment he met Klaus. That man was so much bigger than the tiny future Dave had planned. There was no normal with Klaus. There never would be. Dave wraps his arms around Klaus, pulling him in tighter. 

Fuck normal.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for sticking with me through this whole story! 
> 
> Hopefully that ending made sense. Dave finally appears to Klaus after the apocalypse is averted and obviously by that point Klaus's abilities have grown quite a bit. (still haven't figured out how time-travel works for ghosts since they're probably technically multi-dimensional beings and possibly able to experience their lives/deaths entirely outside of time, therefore Dave might have experienced the events of the Day That Wasn't and remembered them, but for the sake of keeping things simple, I've opted to assume he doesn't have that memory anymore for this story) There's a lot of stuff with Klaus I had in my brain while writing this, which Dave obviously wouldn't be aware of. I've been thinking of writing this story again, except from Klaus's perspective, but I'm not sure if anyone will want to read that. I'll probably write it anyway, just because it's on my mind. I've also started writing a story about the 3 tattoos Klaus gets when he's in Vietnam, so that should be coming out soon as well. 
> 
> Anyway, thank you all again for reading this story. I've really appreciated all the comments and encouragement. This is such a great fandom to write for and I look forward to writing a lot more!


End file.
